This past week we had a handful of calves that were slightly under the weather. I told Rick yesterday that if I couldn't bring them around over the weekend, that I was going to call the vet.
Well, the vet beat me to it! He called yesterday afternoon. This is how it went:
Me: Hello?
Vet: Terri, this Mike. How's it going?
Me: Did Rick call you about my calves??
Vet: No....what's going on with your calves?
I explained the situation and what I was doing to correct the situation. He affirmed that I was handling it correctly and that he didn't think he needed to come out to look at them. He offered some other tips, then told me why he was calling. He knows a young man who wants to learn a little bit more about grazing, and would like to job shadow at our place for a day or so. We like to pay things forward, so we will have this young man out soon.
Did you notice during the phone call, the vet never said "from Clinton Veterinary Service" or even his last name? This phone call got me thinking about what a good relationship we have with our vet. A good relationship with the vet is right up there in importance as a good relationship with your own doctor. He knows our operation, how we manage, how we think, and he always tailors the doctor's orders to what's going to work best for us.
I have known our vet for at least 20+ years. I cannot remember when exactly he became the preferred vet at my folk's farm, but I was young. One thing I like best about the practice is their honesty. Mike will always be very honest in the most respectful way. A long time ago, when I worked full time for Mom and Dad, we had a lengthy herd health check. During the check, he told us that he really thought we ought to go into partnership together, instead of Rick and I starting our own dairy. We told him a little story about concerning too many chiefs and not enough Indians. There are many other reasons why both my parents and us didn't want to go into a partnership together (enough for another blog entry) but we didn't get into that. That day the herd check seemed to take forever.
Some partnerships work well. The partnership my parents had with my Grandpa worked great. Grandpa was very easy to work with. His regular response was something to the tune of "whatever you want. Sounds good to me." You could ask Grandpa if he wanted to go out to lunch, or if he wanted to buy a new tractor. It was the same answer. "Whatever you want. Sounds good to me!" But not all of them work out so great.
Four or five years ago, when Mike was out for a herd check, he brought his former opinion up in conversation. He said "you know, I really thought you guys should have went into partnership with your parents. But I was wrong. You've done real well here." I will never forget him saying that.
We don't agree on everything, but our discussions have rarely been heated. One superior thing about Clinton Veterinary Service is that they have many different clients but they treat all of them the same in terms of importance.
When Rick and I started the dairy, Mike hired on a new vet, Russ. Russ is also a great asset for our dairy. The best thing is that he really got into the meat of his own career when we did. So, we can grow old and grey together, and when we are, he can hire a new vet out of college to continue the tradition with our kids on their own farm.
Here's some more information on Clinton Veterinary Service:
http://www.clintonvetsvc.com/
Or, "like" them on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clinton-Veterinary-Service-PC/371200738888
-Terri
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